Francis Xavier, a 16th-century Basque missionary, is credited with writing: “Give me the children until they are seven, and anyone may have them afterward.”

Supporters (and some critics) of the Catholic Church mention Xavier when highlighting the lasting influence the religion has on its members. Score another victory this week for Rome in the football recruiting wars.

ARVADA — If you have to step up to take some game-winning free throws, it helps to have a nickname like “Ice.”

OK, so maybe it’s more like “Ise,” but Columbine senior Nick Isenburg was the perfect guy to put an end to a maddening fourth quarter Jan. 27 against Arvada West.

Having watched the Rebels stall just long enough to turn the ball over or miss a series of wide-open layups, Isenburg was put on the free-throw line with 9 seconds remaining and the visitors down 46-45.

But seriously, to hit two 3-pointers Jan. 26, the first from just inside half-court to send the game into overtime, and the other with 12 seconds left to give Chatfield a 65-64 victory over Ralston Valley? Who does this stuff?

“I practice those all the time. I seriously do,” Kurtenbach said. “Usually from half-court. So I was just like, ‘OK, I’ve been here before.’ And when it went in I just went ecstatic.”

After losing three of their first five Jeffco league games, the Dakota Ridge girls basketball team entered last week’s two-game homestand needing to win both games to get back in the race. Mission accomplished.

After beating Pomona 47-29 on Jan. 26, the Eagles overcame an early eight-point deficit to defeat Standley lake 58-46 three days later.

With his team down 2-1 at the first intermission, Columbine assistant coach Brent Bohn told his team what the outcome would be.

“I just reminded these guys to keep their composure, work on penalties and stay out of the box… I told them if they did they’d win this game, I told them it would be a 4-3 final score and that’s what it ended up being,” Bohn said.

The Chatfield Chargers were in grave danger of losing their first dual meet of the season on Jan. 28 against Westminster.

With the team down 33-15 and five matches to go, the Chargers’ turned to their experienced wrestlers and took all five matches as they eked out a 41-33 victory in their home gym.

Dakota Thayer, Tony Pena, Erik Gaytan, Cory Wittwer and all won their matches to put Chatfield back in the lead, but it all came down to the last match that saw junior Jordan Crites of Chatfield going against Dominique Martinez.

Columbine’s bid to upset the defending champion Regis Raiders was made even tougher Jan. 20 by the Rebels’ frequent and untimely trips to the penalty box. The Raiders scored four power-play goals and added a shorthanded goal as they rallied for a 6-2 victory at the Edge.

The Columbine Rebels gave new meaning to the term “non-conference game,” as the girls basketball team played host to the Juneau-Douglas Crimson Bears on Jan. 21.

That’s right, Juneau, as in Alaska.

The Crimson Bears, in their first of three Colorado games, came into Columbine and beat their gracious hosts 47-38 in what will look a normal non-conference game in the standings, but this was certainly no ordinary game.